This invention relates generally to the field of warning devices, and more particularly to a seat operated switch and warning system.
In recent years the number of people who are diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease has increased considerably. This is due in part because there are a greater number of elderly people living today than ever before. The care of Alzheimer patients can be difficult in that there short term memory is impaired and therefore patients can easily forget instructions given to them. If left unattended, an Alzheimer patient may wander away and then find him or herself in a state of panic and confusion when they fail to recognize where they are. For this reason Alzheimer care givers need to keep a constant eye on their pateints. Unfortunately, care givers frequently have other chores to do or have a number of patients to care for making it difficult to keep a constant watch on each patient. One way to solve this problem is to restrain the patient in some way, however this is obviously an unsatisfactory solution in that the lack of freedom of movement is regarded as inhumane. There is therefore a need to alert Alzheimer care givers as to if and when an Alzheimer patient leaves his or her seat or bed. To this end it would be helpful to have a device that creates a warning sound when a person leaves his or her seat or bed.
Various types of seat operated switches are known including those found in current model vehicles that alert a person to attach his or her seat belt. However these mechanical switch based warning devices are built into the underside of the seat and are not removable or replaceable. They also do not transmit a signal to a remote location where a person some distance away can be alerted to the fact that someone is or is not in a seat.
Additionally, the mechanical switch based warning system can be defeated if the person in the seat sits on one edge of the seat and might not activate the switch. Finally, existing seat operated warning systems do not have the option of having a custom recorded message play when a person leaves the seat.